Note: spoilers for "Game of Thrones" ahead.

The death toll has been rising exponentially on the current season of "Game of Thrones," as the race for the Iron Throne tightens.

And on the literally explosive season-six finale, some major characters got taken out.

Each death still inspires stunned reactions from fans and drives a huge amount of colorful commentary on social media.

While there are certainly more losses to come in season seven, we're still reeling from what we've seen.

Take a look at the biggest deaths on "Game of Thrones" so far below.

SEE ALSO: 5 important things you probably missed on the 'Game of Thrones' season finale

Walder Frey: Three seasons after he betrayed the Starks at the Red Wedding, Walder Frey met his revenge. Using a face she probably stole from the Hall of Faces before leaving Braavos, Arya first fed Frey his sons baked into a pie and then slit his throat — as his son had done to her mother.

Death:Season 6, episode 10 ("The Winds of Winter")

Maester Pycelle: Brutally stabbed to death by Qyburn's — formerly Varys' — little birds aka orphan street children.

Death:Season 6, episode 10 ("The Winds of Winter")

King Tommen: Left alone and overcome by the murders of everyone in the Great Sept, including his love Margaery, Tommen flung himself from his bedroom window in the Red Keep.

Death:Season 6, episode 10 ("The Winds of Winter")

Earth is a big place. And over the past several millennia, humans have filled it with big, magnificent things, such as massive pyramids, giant walls, sprawling cities, and much more.

But to the International Space Station (ISS), which is hurtling through space about 250 miles above the surface of Earth, our big planet can look kind of small. Houses, roads, and buildings all disappear. Even some of our biggest constructions can get swallowed up in the swirls of blue, white, and green that characterize our planet. 

But, there are some structures that, even 250 miles away, are visible from ISS.

Here are a few of them:

The Great Pyramids of Giza

Do you see a pair of small triangular shadows at the center of this photo? Those shadows, and the small speck right below them, are actually some of the most mind-blowing constructions ever built by humans. They are three of the most well-known ancient Egyptian pyramids: the Pyramids of Giza. The largest of the three is nearly 500 feet tall, but from space it just looks like a tiny smudge in the Egyptian desert.

City lights at night

At night, light pollution from cities drowns out stars in the sky. But if you look down on a few of these cities from space, the artificial lights create a constellation of their own, illuminating the area all around them.

The Kennecott Copper Mine

The Kennecott Copper Mine, southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. It measures about 2.5 miles across and it is about 4,000 feet deep. Mining first began there in the late nineteenth century to remove gold, silver, and lead deposits.

We're heading into a holiday weekend — and most successful people have planned out (or at least thought about) what they'll do over the next three days.

"Successful people recognize how important it is to take advantage of a long weekend to refuel their passions and recharge their batteries," says Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of "The Humor Advantage."

They work extra hard the days leading up to the three-day weekend in order to maximize their leisure time, adds Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job." They also compartmentalize any work-related tasks that slip into their three-day weekends, separating them from their coveted leisure time. "They know that if the two blend into each other, they'll likely feel cheated afterward," she says.

Planning ahead for a three-day weekend is important because you don't want to squander the relatively rare opportunity to decompress from the office. Taylor explains: "These extended weekends are different from the regular weekend because you know you have extra time to relax, tie up loose ends personally, catch up with important people in your life, or get ahead on a project. And time is a nonrenewable resource. How you spend it should be consistent with what you need to accomplish short- and long-term to be content."

Not sure how to make the most of the next 72 hours? We've got some ideas.

Here are 14 things successful people do before and over three-day weekends:

SEE ALSO: 14 things successful people do in the first 10 minutes of the workday

1. They plan ahead

Many successful people plan out their activities for the holiday weekend well in advance so that they are not drawn into the temptation of working, Kerr says. They make reservations, book tee times, schedule activities with their kids, etc.

Taylor adds: "They're strategic enough to have an action plan for the three-day weekend, but flexible enough to tackle any urgent work issues that may arise."

2. They prepare at work

"Most of what they do happens before they leave for a long weekend so that they are psychologically free to relax and enjoy it," Kerr says.

This includes saying proper goodbyes to colleagues, cleaning up their office, finishing any pressing tasks, and creating a clear plan of action for when they return to the office so they can hit the ground running.

3. They set technology guidelines

Successful people set email and phone rules for themselves and the people they work with, so that people understand when, if at all, they will be available to respond or pick up.

"This can communicate to employees how critical it is for everyone to take a complete break, and that any and all work can wait," Kerr explains. "Although employees may assume this, they often need to hear it from their leader to be able to completely relax over a long weekend." 

You don't need a pet tiger or private island to live luxuriously.

As thousands of Redditors recently avowed in an AskReddit thread, sometimes high-quality toilet paper and a soothing cup of tea can make you feel sufficiently pampered.

Here are some easy, cheap ways to live the high life for next to nothing:

Adding a memory-foam mattress topper to your bed can provide added comfort, and it costs far less than a new mattress.

-ironclownfish

Brewing coffee in a French press is simpler and, some say, offers a richer flavor than traditionally brewed coffee.

-Benthazaal

Subscribing to a streaming services like Netflix or Spotify Premium gives you access to huge catalogs of TV shows, movies, and music for around $10 a month.

-WingerRules

You made it to New York City!

Summer internships in the Big Apple are really exciting, whether they're in finance, media, or in the arts.

But you might also find yourself feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Like, how are you supposed to work all day, feed yourself, do your laundry, and keep your apartment from turning into a complete disaster?

Business Insider is here to help. We've compiled a list of life hacks to get you through that summer internship.

Check them out.

Lucinda Shen contributed to an earlier version of this post.

Pool your Seamless vouchers.

If you're interning on Wall Street this summer, then you've almost definitely been allotted a certain amount of money for Seamless dinners. Lots of other companies do this too.

Make the most of those vouchers by pooling them with 3 or 4 colleagues and getting a family-size order that serves 6 or 8 people.

And if your company doesn't offer you Seamless...

Try ordering from Eat24. The company was recently bought by Yelp and has a lot of restaurants that you'd also find on Seamless. Plus, they have a ton of weekend coupons.

Don't even try to doing laundry yourself.

Send it out instead.

If you live in a building that doesn't have a washer and dryer in-house (which is pretty common in NYC), the amount of time, effort, and money you will spend trekking to and from the laundromat, sack in hand, is simply not worth it.

In many neighborhoods, it doesn't cost much more to pay your local laundromat to wash your clothes for you.

Or, try Fly Cleaners. They pick up your laundry, clean it, and drop it off for free if your order is over $15, and they have a handy app.

Stay bullish on America, even though there are reasons to become discouraged about the economy.

In a recent report, Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's US Trust division, discussed 10 reasons to remain optimistic even though a lot is going wrong.

"For investors, don’t buy the coming election-related hype that America is in decline," he wrote.

"Nothing could be further from the truth. Stay long the United States."

Here are 10 reasons why you should:

America has the largest and most productive in economy in the world

The US accounts for one-sixth of global gross domestic product on a purchasing power parity basis, even though it has just 4.5% of the global population. And among developed economies, the US economy is one of only a few where GDP is up from precrisis levels. 

The US is a global leader in manufactured goods ...

Manufacturing output totaled $2.2 trillion in nominal terms in 2015, up 26% from the troughs of 2009. Additionally, as the chart shows, manufacturing employment has been on the rise since the recession. This has been propelled by moderate wage growth, technology, and cheap energy costs. 

Multinational manufacturers are in a position to meet the needs of developing nations.  

... and one of the largest exporters in the world

What the US exports in a month is greater than what most countries export in a year, Quinlan said. China leads in global exports, but is not that far ahead of the US. 

"Long-term, no one is better leveraged to global growth than many small, medium and large cap U.S. firms," he wrote. 

The US is a huge, diverse country, and the characteristics of the states that make it up vary widely.

We used 40 demographic, social, and economic indicators that cover several aspects of American life, mostly from the US Census Bureau's recently released "2014 American Community Survey" estimates.

We looked at how far away each state was from the average of each of those metrics among the states and Washington, DC. Putting those distances together, we figured out how "weird" or "normal" each state was. See our method and sources here.

Here's all 50 states and DC, ranked from weirdest to most normal, along with some of the metrics that made them outliers or average.

SEE ALSO: NEED A CHANGE? Here are the 20 best US cities for getting a new job

51. District of Columbia

What makes it weird: The nation's capital is different from the states. The racial breakdown of the city was far from average: Nearly half of the city's residents — 47.7% — identified as non-Hispanic blacks, a higher proportion than any of the states. DC had a higher level of educational attainment than any state, with 55% of residents having at least a bachelor's degree.

What makes it normal: 84.9% of DC residents had computers in their homes, equal to the average rate of computer ownership among the states.

50. Hawaii

What makes it weird: Like DC, Hawaii's racial makeup is different from other states. Only 22.9% of Hawaii residents identified as non-Hispanic white alone, lower than any other state. Unsurprisingly, Hawaii had by far the largest percentage of Hawaiian Natives and other Pacific Islanders at 9.3%. At 18.9%, Hawaii also had the highest percentage of people identifying as two or more races.

What makes it normal: The median age of Hawaii residents at 38.1 years was slightly higher than the average median age among the states of 38 years.

49. Alaska

What makes it weird: Alaska had the biggest sex discrepancy of any of the states: 52.3% of Alaskans are men, making the state one of just nine with male majorities. The state also had, by far, the highest proportion of residents identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native at 13.7%.

What makes it normal: The 16.6% of Alaskans who spoke a language other than English at home was close to the 14.6% average rate among the states.

It's finally summer, so don't be surprised if you get caught in an unexpected rain shower accompanied by lightning and thunder.

In the northern hemisphere, most lightning occurs in the summer months. It's also the time of year when the most deaths by lightning occur.

Here are some of the most epic images of lightning strikes that photographers have captured over the last few years.

SEE ALSO: 9 intense arm workouts you can do virtually anywhere without any equipment

DON'T MISS: Archaeologists just found a huge structure in a 2,000-year-old city using satellites and drones

Lightning is created when positive and negative charges bump up against one another inside clouds and discharge their electricity. Ever pulled off a freshly-dried sweater and felt your skin crackle underneath? Same idea. In this photo of a lightning storm from July 2015 outside Barstow, California, electricity charges the ground in lines of light.

Source: NASA

Contrary to popular belief, lightning can strike the same place twice, especially tall buildings. The myth that a lightning strike permanently changes the electric charge of the ground where it hits, making it immune to further strikes, is bucked by places like the Torre Ciudadana in Monterrey, Mexico that's been hit plenty of times.

When it hits, lightning can get up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the immediate heat of these strikes was pretty toasty. Rods reach out everywhere in this photo taken in a June 2011 storm in Belgrade, Serbia.

Kmart was once one of America's leading discount retailers.

But its sales have been tanking for years, and now it's closing dozens of stores.

At its peak in 2000, Kmart raked in $37 billion in sales and had 2,156 stores.

Since then, Kmart's sales have dropped 72% to $10 billion. It now has just 941 stores, with plans to close nearly 70 more by next month.

We went to a Kmart store in Richmond, Virginia, to find out why it's losing customers.

SEE ALSO: We went to Sears and saw why the company is imploding

The store looked giant from the outside, and the parking lot was busy.

Walking inside, it's impossible to see where this Kmart ends. It's huge.

First, I visited the apparel sections. It looked like the walls in the children's clothing department could use some repairs.

Retiring by 40 is more than possible. Plenty of regular people have done it.

Take "Mr. Money Mustache," who averaged a $67,000 annual salary working as an engineer for 10 years before announcing his retirement at age 30. Or Jeremy Jacobson and Winnie Tseng, whose combined annual salary of $135,000 was enough to retire in their 30s with a multi-million dollar net worth.

If you want to do the same, consider these tips and strategies from regular people who retired before age 40.

SEE ALSO: 7 ways to guarantee you won't save enough money to retire

Develop multiple streams of income

"Becoming financially independent requires building up a large amount of capital, a task made much easier by earning a high income,"explain Jacobson and Tseng on their blog, "Go Curry Cracker!"

While a six-figure income certainly helps, it's not essential for early retirees, they note: "For those with no interest in attending college, or those with a degree in a lower income field, time outside of work can be spent on a side hustle ... No matter which path you choose, with hard work and dedication it is possible to grow income over time. By inflating savings rather than lifestyle, this will result in rapid growth in wealth."

Read about 50 ways to bring in additional income, some high-paying jobs you can do on the side, how you can earn passive income, and the first step to take before starting any business, from an entrepreneur who earns up to $170,000 a month.

Invest the difference

Once you've maximized your income, you'll want to put as much of that money to work as you possibly can. One of the most effective ways to earn more money over time is to invest it, and the earlier you start, the better.

Mr. Money Mustache, uses a simple mind trick to keep his money growing: He thinks about money as something to invest rather than something to spend.

"I like the idea of keeping all money invested,"he explained to Farnoosh Torabi on her podcast. "So if I run into a surplus sometime, I don't think of something to buy with it — I think, 'OK, I better get rid of this money and put it to work again.' So, I sweep it out of the bank account and into regular index funds."

While a raise, generous birthday gift, or lucky lottery winnings may trigger a shopping spree for most of us, Mr. Money Mustache's instinct is to invest surplus money, which eliminates any spending temptation that may arise. Even more significantly, he's putting that surplus to work and allowing it to compound over time.

Set clear and specific goals

Setting a date is a crucial step to take if you plan to retire early, writes Joe Udo of "Retire By 40," who saved over half his income and retired at age 38: "It gives you a goal to shoot for and most of us work better with a deadline looming."

You'll also want to make a retirement budget, meaning you need to sit down and figure out what your income and expenses will look like after retirement, he says. This will depend on how you envision your future lifestyle. For instance, do you plan on traveling a lot, or gifting money to family members? How much will that cost?

Serving in the military isn't a prerequisite for becoming president. Nonetheless, out of the 44 presidents of the United States, 29 had some military experience in their background, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. 

These are the presidents who served in the armed forces in some capacity, from the modern day to the American Revolution: 

SEE ALSO: America's 9 Greatest War Hero Presidents

George W. Bush

Service: Texas Air National Guard

Rank: First Lieutenant 

Conflict: Stateside during the Vietnam War

George H. W. Bush

Service: United States Naval Reserve

Rank: Lieutenant (junior grade)

Conflict: World War II 

Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross 

Ronald Reagan

Service: United States Army Reserve, United States Army Air Corps

Rank: Captain

Conflict: Stateside during World War II 

You favorite streaming services have restocked with some great titles coming in July. 

Comedies like "Keanu" and "The Boss" will be available. So will TV hits like "Mr. Robot" and "Ballers."

There's also the "ultimate edition" of the polarizing "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

Here's the complete list. We've highlighted some of our top picks you shouldn't miss in bold.

SEE ALSO: There are only 6 of these crazy "Game of Thrones" Xbox One consoles — here's how to get one

iTunes

Available July 5

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (Ultimate Edition)
“By The Sea”
“I Saw The Light”

Available July 12

“The Boss”
“Keanu”
“Hardcore Henry”

Available July 19

“Mother’s Day”
“The Lobster”
“Miles Ahead”
“Elvis & Nixon”

Amazon Prime

Available July 1

“29 Palms”
“48 HRS.”
“A Viking Saga: The Darkest Day”
“American Idiots”
“Another 48 HRS.”
“Battle for Terra”
“Best in Show”
“Broadway Danny Rose”
“Captivity”
“Casino”
“Clear and Present Danger”
“Dirty Work”
“Escape from Alcatraz”
“Flashdance”
“Hackers”
“KILL BILL: VOLUME 1”
“KILL BILL: VOLUME 2”
“Patriot Games”
“Rosemary’s Baby”
“Saw VI”
“Saw: The Final Chapter”
“Scary Movie”
“Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll” (Season 2)
“Shall We Dance?”
“Snake Eye”
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”
“Star Trek III: The Search for Spock”
“Star Trek IX: Insurrection”
“Star Trek V: The Final Frontier”
“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”
“Star Trek: The Motion Picture”
“The Hunt for Red October”
“The Shining”

Available July 2

“Kiljoys” (Season 2)
“Terminator Genisys”

Available July 3

“All the Boys Love Mandy Lane”

Available July 5

“Ardor”
“Barbershop: The Next Cut”
“By the Sea”
“Hannibal” (Season 3)

Available July 7

“Tyrant” (Season 3)

Available Just 12

“The Boss” (Unrated)
“Hardcore Henry”
“Keanu”
“Suits” (Season 5)

Available July 13

“13 Sins”

Available July 14

“Mr. Robot” (Season 2)

Available July 19

“Batman v Superman” (VOD)
“The Lobster”
“Mother’s Day”

Available July 25

“Vikings” (Season 4A)

Available July 30

“Good Dinosaur” (STARZ) 

Hulu

Available July 1

“MythBusters” (Complete Season 17)
“40 Days and 40 Nights”
“48 HRS”
“Another 48 Hours”
“The Aviator”
“Broadway Danny Rose”
“The Brothers Bloom”
“The Business of Strangers”
“Captivity”
“Clear and Present Danger”
“Dirty Work”
“Escape From Alcatraz”
“Finding Neverland”
“Flashdance”
“Glory”
“Hackers”
“Hunger”
“The Hunt for Red October”
“In Her Skin”
“In the Loop”
“In Their Skin”
“Intermission”
“Legally Blondes”
“Lonesome Jim”
“Maniac”
“Manic”
“Me and You and Everyone We Know”
“Mercy”
“Mommie Dearest”
“My Amityville Horror” (2012)
“The Other Woman”
“Out of Time”
“Patriot Games”
“Rosemary’s Baby”
“Saw VI”
“Saw: the Final Chapter”
“Shaolin Warrior”
“Sightseers”
“Simon Killer”
“Snake Eyes”
“Star Trek 11: The Wrath of Khan”
“Star Trek 111: The Search for Spock”
“Star Trek 1X: Insurrection”
“Star Trek V: The Final Frontier”
“Star Trek V1: The Undiscovered Country”
“Star Trek: The Motion Picture”
“Tiny Furniture”
“Touching the Void”
“Trainspotting”
“XX/XY”
“Your Sister’s Sister”
 
Available July 2 
 
“Southpaw” (Showtime)
“Terminator Genisys”
 
Available July 15
 
“The Last Days”
 
Available July 21
 
“Vikings” (Season 4 New Episodes)
 
Available July 23
 
“Z For Zachariah”

For much of the past 30 years, the BMW M3 has been the gold standard for performance sports sedans and coupes. Countless newcomers have attempted to challenge the dominance of the Bimmer. Although a few have gotten close, none have been able to topple the king.

The latest challenger to the Bavarian performance car is the Cadillac ATS-V. If you're surprised to find the byword for soft American luxury mentioned in the same sentence as the ultimate driving machine, you haven't been paying enough attention to the Cadillac's evolution.

For the past decade, Caddy has been infusing its products with more edge, performance, and quality in an attempt to shake the hangover of all those boatlike examples of the wreath and shield from the 1970s and '80s — right down to the lush velour interiors, throwback whitewall tires, and pretentious names like "Fleetwood Brougham" and "Deville." Ask Caddy, they'll tell you that driving dynamics and engineering excellence have put those days in the rearview. It's no accident that the automaker, which recently moved its sales and marketing to New York City, talks a talk that echoes what you hear coming from Stuttgart, Ingolstadt, or Munich.

With its current generation of ATS, CTS, and CT6 models, along with its performance oriented V-Series cars, Cadillac has been mounting a series charge at Germany's sporting automotive supremacy. The ATS-V coupe and sedan are the latest performance offerings from Caddy's "V-Series" aimed directly at the BMW M3. (The M3 Coupe has been renamed the M4.)

Business Insider spent some time with a 2016 Cadillac ATS-V coupe. It starts at $62,665, but our highly optioned test car came to $76,035.

Photos by Hollis Johnson unless otherwise credited.

SEE ALSO: Lexus achieved something incredibly important with the luxurious new RX 350

For 30 years, the BMW M3 has been the gold standard for compact sports sedans.

Today, the stunning M4 continues that tradition of automotive excellence.

Sportiness hasn't really been a big part of Cadillac's tradition. However, since the late 1980s, Caddy has become more and more interested in incorporating "sportiness" to its cars.

Big animation movies love having superstar actors to inhabit their characters. And on that count, "Kung Fu Panda 3" does very well.

As in the previous two films from the DreamWorks Animation hit franchise, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, and David Cross are all present to give their voices.

And this year, the studio added Oscar winner J.K. Simmons to voice the villain in part three, Kai, who has come from the spirit realm to take the chi of all the kung fu masters.

Simmons is no stranger to doing animation work. He was Mayor Lionheart in the Disney hit “Zootopia” and his voice can be heard on this season of “Archer” as well as for Lennie Turtletaub in “BoJack Horseman.”

Why do top-flight actors love to do animation work? Simmons gave Business Insider three reasons why.

“Kung Fu Panda 3” is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

SEE ALSO: Here's the tricks directors use when they can't get stars to finish a movie

1. You don't have to worry about how you look when showing up to work.

When your profession largely has to do with your appearance, being inside a recording both — and getting paid for it — is a dream.

“No makeup chair, no shaving, no wardrobe, you get to be a complete slob,” Simmons said. “That would definitely be number one in my book.”

2. Collaborating on the creation of the character and story with the filmmakers.

Though the story and characters are usually fleshed out before the voice talent get into the recording booth, Simmons said the filmmakers were still open to hear his opinions.

“The freedom, that theater of the mind along with your collaborators — the writers and the directors — to be able to have limitless freedom to imagine and create," Simmons said, heightened the experience.

At the very least, Simmons said it was fun to close his eyes and imagine the character in the world the animators would create, which he often did when recording Kai.

3. You can't beat the hours.

Often on live-action movies, key talent have to stay on set daily for hours upon hours. And if you’re on a blockbuster movie, you likely flew hours to another country to film. That’s not the case with animation.

“You do an animated feature, for the cast it's working a total of 10-12 hours [spread out over a few months], which is less than one day on a live-action feature,” Simmons said. “So it's a lot of bang for your buck as far as that goes. You get to be part of a fun project without having to get on a jet and fly to London to do your work.” 

Two months ago, I wrote a blog post about ways people pretend to have their money sh-t together, and I got a lot of responses from readers who loved it.

Apparently you all know people who are good at keeping up appearances … or maybe you just like when I include partially-obscured curse words in headlines?

Either way, I’d like to follow that post up with the sequel: all of the jaw-dropping, head-scratching things people do with their money. Believe me, I see these things all the time. And maybe a few of you have (ahem) committed some of them.

If so, you have nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all taken well-meaning yet terrible advice from loved ones, and made mistakes out of ignorance, shame, or fear. And what matters most isn’t that you goofed — it’s what you learn from the error and do next.

Take it from me: I bought more house that I could afford at 21 (at the top of the market, no less!), but it was that experience that led me to become a financial planner. If you made a financial mistake, not only are you in good company, but it could lead to some positive changes in your life, too.

So, what is some unbelievably stupid sh-t I’ve seen people do with their money? Read on!

SEE ALSO: Every millennial should know these investing terms cold

1. They make early withdrawals from their retirement accounts

If you contribute to a 401(k) or IRA, pat yourself on the back. By starting your retirement savings at a young age, you’re on the path to a comfortable retirement.

Unless you withdraw money from those accounts for non-qualified reasons. Then you’re making bad decisions. Here’s why: any withdrawal you make before you turn 59½ is subject not only to income tax, but also a 10% penalty. So you get to pay a huge price while shortchanging yourself in the long term by not letting that money grow over a long time. Lose-lose.

You can make qualified early withdrawals for things like buying your first home, supporting yourself if you become disabled and can’t work, or funding education expenses. But before you touch that money, do your research.

2. They gift money to loved ones while struggling themselves

Many families have the expectation that older generations will be supported by younger ones, and 20% of Millennials help their parents out financially. I think it’s beautiful when families rally around to help each other out in times of need, but you should be realistic about what sum of money (if any) you can comfortably give.

Before gifting any money, set aside what you need to cover bills and debt payments, as well as savings for longer-term goals and retirement. If you have money left over and you’d like to spend it on helping someone out, at least your expenses are covered first.

As the saying goes, don’t set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm.

3. They go to grad school without a plan

Our generation was taught that higher education was a guaranteed path to success. How well has that worked out for us? That sound you hear are thousands of underemployed lawyers crying over their student loan balances.

Here’s the thing with grad school: certain fields require it, and if you’d like to work in those fields, you should probably go grad school. For everyone else, think long and hard before you sign up for six-figure debt and a few years out of the workforce.

You might find more success seeking out relevant work experience or taking a class or two on the side, rather than getting a master’s or PhD.

Even though we're still months away from Apple's Fall iPhone event, the rumors are heating up.

One the freshest rumors claims that Apple will introduce a new color option for the next iPhone.

Want to know the latest? Here's everything we're hearing about the iPhone 7.

It might NOT be called the iPhone 7.

Based on Apple's historical nomenclature for its iPhone generations, many predicted the next iPhone will be called the iPhone 7.

However, recent rumors from Japanese news site Nikkei spotted by 9to5Mac claim that the "iPhone 7" will actually be a new member of the iPhone 6 family instead of a brand new iPhone generation with a new model number, like "7."

That would be a completely new move by Apple, but if other rumors about the next iPhone are true, it wouldn't be totally outlandish.

Since we're even less certain than before about what it'll be called, we'll call it "the next iPhone" from now on.

There will be two different models with different screen sizes.

The next iPhone will likely come in two sizes just like the iPhone 6 generation, including the standard 4.7-inch screen model as well as a Plus model with a 5.5-inch screen.

It'll look a lot like the iPhone 6/6s.

So far, just about every rumor indicates that the next iPhone won't look that much different than the iPhone 6 and 6s, including rumors from 9to5Mac and case leaks from notorious gadget leaks Steve Hemmerstoffer.

Most recently, leaked schematics of the alleged next iPhone make it look almost identical to the iPhone 6/6s generation, which helps back up claims that the next iPhone will be part of the iPhone 6 family rather than a new iPhone generation that would usually come with a total redesign. 

Now that season six of HBO's "Game of Thrones" is in the can, we can see how it fared against previous seasons in the critics' eyes.

This was the show's highest-rated season to date, but that doesn't necessarily tell you much about quality. Season six could've attracted more viewers by the nature of its unpredictability. It was the first season to surpass the George R.R. Martin books the show is based on, so there was an extra curiosity factor built into the season for book fans and the show's fans.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, which assigns a score to reviews in order to give a picture of critical reception, the season was well-received.

"There were a lot of expectations on 'GoT,' since this was the first season almost entirely off-book, and most critics have agreed that the showrunners have pulled it off pretty spectacularly," Rotten Tomatoes senior editor Grae Drake said in a statement. "There's been a lot of table-setting this season, but with more characters converging, there have been fewer threads to follow, which has given them the time to focus on key storylines and move them along at a relatively brisk pace."

In the end, where did season six rank among the show's other years?

Here's the ranking of "Thrones" seasons from worst to best, according to Rotten Tomatoes scores:

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6. Season one: 89%

Critics Consensus: "Its intricate storytelling and dark themes may overwhelm some viewers, but 'Game of Thrones' is a transportive, well-acted, smartly written drama even non-genre fans can appreciate."—Rotten Tomatoes

5. Season five: 93%

Critics Consensus: "Bloody action and extreme power plays return full throttle, as 'Game of Thrones' enjoys a newfound liberation from the world of the source material, resulting in more unexpected thrills."

4. Season six: 94%

Critics Consensus: "Bloody and captivating as always, 'Game of Thrones' plunges back into the midst of a world touched by grief, dread, and precarious sexuality."

Who doesn't hate being bored?

In fact, it turns out that we hate boredom so much that a surprising amount of people said they would rather be shocked with electricity than sit there quietly and think.

But thanks to the invention of smartphones, all we need to do to keep ourselves occupied these days is turn our eyes and fingers to our screens.

Tons of people do it. A Gallup study from last year reports the majority of US smartphone owners check their phones at least a few times an hour. (Cell phone addiction even has a clinical name now: "nomophobia").

Unfortunately for most of us, research suggests that we could be missing out on a lot by turning to our smartphones whenever we feel the pangs of boredom.

Here's why it might be a good idea to unplug and get back to being bored for a while:

SEE ALSO: 8 bad habits that are ruining your sleep

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Boredom can make you more creative

Researchers believe that being bored can lead to some of our most original thoughts.

During a study by UK psychologist Sandi Mann, researchers gave subjects various boring tasks to complete and then asked them to use their creative thinking. The subjects who had the most boring task — reading the phone book — came up with the most interesting uses for plastic cups, which is a standard test of divergent thinking.

Mann says that boredom encourages people's minds to wander, leading them to more associative and creative ways of thinking.

It lets you know when something is amiss

As researcher and philosophy professor Andreas Elpidorou explains in a psychology journal article that cites numerous studies, boredom "acts as a regulatory state that keeps one in line with one's projects.

"In the absence of boredom, one would remain trapped in unfulfilling situations, and miss out on many emotionally, cognitively, and socially rewarding experiences. Boredom is both a warning that we are not doing what we want to be doing and a 'push' that motivates us to switch goals and projects,"he writes.

It makes you more goal-oriented

When people's minds wander and they're not thinking about what's going on around them, they're more likely to think about the future, European and American researchers found.

In a process known as "autobiographical planning," people most frequently plan and anticipate their future goals while daydreaming.

From where you parked your car to the password for your Facebook account, the sheer number of things you have to remember each day is pretty astounding.

So if you are having trouble keeping some of these details sharp, chances are you're not alone.

But there is a group of people whose main goal is to make what you see and hear stick. These "memory athletes" travel the world to showcase their skills — and a group of them is set to compete this June 24-26 in San Diego, California as part of an event called the Extreme Memory Tournament.

But these memory champions also have some great advice for the rest of us. Here are five simple strategies for remembering things you've learned.

SEE ALSO: Scientists have finally figured out why we remember some things and forget others

DON'T MISS: The scientific way to remember everyone's name

1. Create a memory palace.

The memory palace is based on the idea that our spatial memories are much stronger than our memories for specific words or objects. You can probably easily recall, for example, where in your home you store your holiday decorations or your office supplies, says World Memory Champion Alex Mullen. And you can apply this innate ability to other harder-to-recall things, like a list of groceries.

Try it: Take your list (let's say it includes apples, paper towels, bread, and milk) and, as you walk through your home in your mind, create a scene of each grocery item in each space. In the living room, for example, you might imagine a group of kids bobbing for apples, while in the dining area you picture each furniture item covered in rolls of paper towels. Next you approach your bedroom, where you picture a giant laying on your bed while snacking on loaves of bread. In the bathroom, you see the sink and bathtub overflowing with milk.

2. Think of a scene.

We form visual memories much like how a camera records an image: What we see gets imprinted, kind of like a photograph, in a specific set of brain cells in our hippocampus, deep inside the brain. This process is called encoding.

The reason we misplace things like our keys, wallet, phone, or car so often is because we store so many similar versions of those memories. Think of how many times you've parked your car or tossed your keys somewhere. Your brain has encoded thousands of those memories. Over time, they begin to blur.

To improve your memory, you have to be able to keep those recollections apart. Next time you set down your keys, try creating a precise scene in your head, suggests US Memory Champion Joshua Foer. Take note of the surface on which you're resting it. Is it wood, steel, or concrete? Red or blue? Is there a photograph or an object nearby that you can keep in mind?

3. Establish an emotional connection.

Having a sense of connection with an object or a place can help us remember details about it.

In a recent review, Harvard and MIT scientists compared how well people could remember photographs against how well they could recall the color of a few simple squares. Overall, people were far better at remembering details about the photos than they were at recalling details about the squares. Researchers think this discrepancy has to do with people's ability to link things in the photos with their own feelings or memories, and therby keep the memory sharper.

We all love getting free stuff. 

Luckily, there are a couple apps out there that can give you prizes or free gifts, or at the very least, find discounts on some of the products you buy every day.

These seven apps allow you to claim discounts on groceries, win gift cards, or accumulate rewards, sometimes just for checking into a restaurant or taking a picture of your receipt. 

Here's a roundup of some of the best apps to try. 

SEE ALSO: How an email to Marc Benioff landed this luxury speaker company a spot in Apple stores around the country

Shopkick rewards you for shopping at your favorite stores

Shopkick gives you points (or "kicks") for visiting retailers. When you walk into participating stores, all you have to do is turn on Bluetooth and enable location services and the app will add kicks that you can later redeem for gift cards. You can also get rewarded for scanning the barcode on an item, linking your Visa or MasterCard, or submitting your receipts for rebates. 

With Viggle, you can get gift cards, prizes and cash for listening to music and watching TV

Let's face it: you're already bingeing anyway, so why not get rewarded for it? Viggle listens for your music and TV shows and recognizes what it hears, giving you points for each song and show it can identify. You can convert those points into gift cards, cash or prizes, but be warned: it takes a while to accumulate enough points to cash out. Rihanna's "Desperado" only merits two points, but it takes 20,000 to get a $20 Amazon gift card.

If you love entering sweepstakes and giveaways (or you're just naturally lucky), Claim it! is for you

Claim it! is a product giveaway app that offers you the chance to enter weekly sweepstakes. The app offers localized giveaways that change each week, which users can enter by selecting a product and clicking "Claim it!" The app lets you know the chances of winning each giveaway, how many people have entered and the value of each item, but just like in a lottery, your chances vary: I had a 100% chance of getting a free coconut water, but less than a 1% chance of winning Powerbeats 2 headphones.